The celebrated “Friends of Erin” have selected Steve “Puck” Dolan, the recently retired bartender at the Montauket, to be the 62nd Montauk Friends of Erin St. Patrick’s Parade Grand Marshal. This year’s parade is scheduled on March 24th at noon in Montauk. To many, there is no better friend than their favorite bartender at their local watering hole. It is there that they spill out what’s on their mind while sipping a beverage of their choice. Steve Dolan had been that person at the Montauket until he retired on December 30th, 2023, after tending bar there for 38 colorful years.
Steve “Puck” Dolan gave an interview to this author, who was in fact a classmate of “Puck’s” at O.L.P.H. in the early 1960s. He shared his journey. “Puck’s” story of how he landed the job at the Montauket is the stuff of folklore. The famous sunset views from the large west-facing window of the Montauket, majestically situated on high ground overlooking both Gardiner’s Island and Gardiner’s Bay, are world-famous. Many nights following a sunset, the patrons applaud. Puck had been there for 38 years of such moments, many times with his back to the window serving folks, yet even on the busiest of nights, he always stopped “for a peek or two.”
His first bartender job came about when the bartender at Bobby Sweeney’s father’s bar on Wolf’s Lane in Pelham quit and handed “Puck,” who was a patron of the establishment, the bartender’s apron. He told “Puck” the prices for the drinks, beers, etc., and just walked out the door, actually quitting then and there. After that job, Puck began tending bar at Rudy’s Barge on the water in New Rochelle. The establishment was owned by Steve and Frank Puglia’s grandfather [Eddie] and uncle [Rudy] back in 1975. Puck explained that in 1982, “Eddie went to Montauk to take over the Montauket after the passing of his brother, who around 1958 had taken a trip to Montauk looking to buy a fishing cottage, got drunk, and bought the Montauket.”
Needing someone he knew and trusted, Eddie asked Puck to move to Montauk to be his bartender in December 1985. Puck said he instantly changed his life by saying, “I would love to.” Now, Puck fondly looks back at the traumatic first evening when he made $12. Chuckling, he said friends in New Rochelle thought he was crazy. Some knew how tough being a bartender out east can be in the off-season. The other workers at the Montauket told him, “Wait until the parade, wait until the parade.” He held on. He then understood the gravitas of the Montauk St. Patrick’s Parade had on business at the Montauket. He never looked back, eventually owning a home in the Springs.
In the interview, explaining how he was told of the selection, he said, “Eoin McCann called me at one in the afternoon a week after I retired; he was with the guys at the Shagwong (Bar in Montauk) and asked me if I wanted to be the Grand Marshal for the 2024 St. Patrick’s Parade, and I said, of course, I would. Then I could hear everybody cheer.” Then they asked Puck if he also wanted to march in the NYC St. Patrick’s Day Parade, and with great enthusiasm, he said yes. The next thing Puck did was call his son, Steve Dolan Jr., who also is a noted bartender on the East End. He is the proud dad of Puck’s two grandsons. Steve Jr., his wife, and sons mean everything to Puck. Although the Grand Marshal tuxedo is rented, Puck will keep and treasure the traditional Grand Marshal top hat and sash. Looking forward, he has many rounds of golf in and around Pompano Beach, Florida, as well as his beloved Montauk Downs course. Puck is still in pursuit of his first hole-in-one, although he once came within inches on the 12th hole at Montauk Downs.
Steve “Puck” Dolan has watched the Montauk Friends of Erin St. Patrick’s Parade Grand Marshal stop by the Montauket for the ceremonial drink for almost four complete decades. This year, he will be served that drink there and in the other Montauk bars.
